


The Static Age

by Aubrie1234



Series: I Can't Hear A Sound On The Radio [1]
Category: Bandom, Green Day
Genre: Deaf Character, F/M, Friendship, From beginning to now, Gen, Mostly in Tré's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 05:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17698706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aubrie1234/pseuds/Aubrie1234
Summary: Tré Cool should’ve known what he was getting into the second he decided to join Green Day.(Or how Green Day would've been like if things were a little different. It doesn't change much)





	The Static Age

**1990:**

Tré Cool should’ve known what he was getting into the second he decided to join Green Day. They needed a drummer to fill in for Kiffmeyer for a while and so he accepted, but he didn’t quite realize what he was going to face when he first met the band. Sure, they had an album and 2 EPs under their belt, but it was Mike and Billie themselves that made Tré wonder if he should’ve passed over the offer.

It was when he came into the studio for the first time to meet the guys and work with them that he noticed something off. When he went in, both men were working on a piece of music, strumming their instruments, and the taller one was the first to notice him. Tré tried to remember which one was Mike and which was Billie as the man got up and put down his instrument, going over to Tré while the other man kept playing.

“Hey, I’m Mike.” They shook hands, “You’re Frank, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me, but just call me Tré Cool.” Tré glanced over to the other man, who he now knew was Billie, “So...” He felt awkward, unsure of what to do. He didn’t want to interrupt Billie’s concentration, but he also wanted to introduce himself to the frontman, the guy who made the major decisions. You don’t make a good impression with him, you’re as good as gone.

“Oh, right.” Mike went over to Billie and shook his shoulder. Billie didn’t seem as startled as he should’ve been, just stopping and giving Mike a glare, until the bassist gestured over his shoulder to Tré. Billie caught sight of the new man and put down his instrument to join them, smiling and giving a small wave.

“Hi.” said the singer, though it didn’t sound quite right to Tré.

“Hi, nice to meet you.” Tré held out his hand to shake and Billie seemed a bit hesitant at first, but then took it gladly. Tré then asked, “So, what drumbeats do I need to learn?”

“Well, Bill’s working on a new album, so you’ll need to learn all the new songs along with the old ones.” Mike explained, “You’ve got a lot to catch up on, but if you need anything, just ask me.” Mike then snapped his fingers, “Oh, before I forget, do you know any ASL?”

“What?” Tré was truly confused at this and Mike sighed.

“I guess you wouldn’t, it’s not a well-known thing...” He shook his head, “Look, before I explain, you’ve got to promise not to tell this to anyone else, okay?”

“Uh, sure?” Tré blinked.

“So,” Mike put an arm around his best friend, “Billie Joe Armstrong is deaf.”

What.

Tré didn’t even know if he said that out loud or not, but judging by the look on Mike’s face, he think he did. At least he didn’t faint, that would’ve been a worse first impression.

“If this is a bit much for you-”

“No no no, it’s fine!” Tré shook his head; he wasn’t messing up this opportunity, “Just, I wasn’t expecting that.” Mike smiled, letting go of Billie.

“Yeah, no one does. But Bill doesn’t like to talk about it, which is why not a lot of people know.” the bassist said, “If you’re willing, I can teach you a few words and phrases to help get along. It’s not as bad as it looks. Also helps that Billie knows how to lip-read.”

“Really?” Billie rolled his eyes at the answer. Tré had nearly forgotten he was there, despite the singer standing in front of him. Billie had just been so quiet that it seemed like he wasn’t there. He probably got that a lot. Tré would have to be careful what he said when Billie could see his lips.

“Duh.” said Billie. The word still sounded a little off, but it was still manageable, and it made Tré wonder how a deaf person like Billie could pronounce words he had never heard so well.

* * *

Before he could learn the drumbeats, Tré had to learn names. He knew that they could just spell the names, but Mike showed him that names could also be formed from a letter and a certain gesture.

“So, for Bill, we usually just go with a B and ‘eyeliner.’” Mike made the drawing movement over his eye to show Tré, “Now you try.”

“Okay...” Tré made the B, then ‘eyeliner,’ and Mike nodded.

“For my name, we do M and ‘tall person.’” Mike made a strong, sudden movement to the side of his head, as if measuring how high something was beside him, “That’s what everyone uses for me, but you might get something different while talking to Billie. If he does this,” Mike crossed his first two fingers and held them out in front of him as if trying to give someone the finger, “it means ‘close friend.’ He doesn’t use it much, but when he does, listen closely. It usually means he’s talking about something important. Now you try.”

“Right...” Tré tried to do Mike’s regular name first, but when he got to the second part, Mike shook his head.

“You’re going too tall. You don’t have to reach for an exact height, just do it like you’re comparing your height to someone else’s. There you go.” He nodded when Tré tried again and got it right. He nodded again when Tré made the other version, impressed at how quickly the drummer was learning.

“So, what do you guys use for my name?”

“Just something simple for now. We were using an F and a ‘drum,’ but if you become closer to the band, your name can change.” Mike showed him the signs and Tré found his name the easiest to sign, as it was just a letter and moving like you’re drumming a snare.

“So, it could become unique?”

“Yep.”

“And what if you guys mention John Kiffmeyer? Could I know his name so I could know, too? Just in case Billie references him?”

“Sure. So, you do a J and ‘Spanish,’ since his nickname was ‘Al Sobrante.’” Mike had his hands at the level of his shoulders before bringing them down in front of him and linking the first fingers. Tré followed and finished up with a smile, which caught Mike’s attention, “Why the smile? Something I said?”

“No, just this whole thing.” Tré said, “I never expected to have to learn sign language to talk with the band, but it’s actually really fun! Or it could be just because I’m a drummer and I like to move all over the place a lot...” Mike smiled.

“I’m glad, but this is just the start. There’s a lot more to it that this, y’know.” Tré knew that, but he didn’t care all that much. He was having fun, and that was what counted.

* * *

Tré didn’t know why he hadn’t asked this question before. He supposed it was because he was afraid it was something he wasn’t supposed to talk about, or you just left it be and didn’t question it, but he couldn’t help it, he just had to _know_. And it was during a practice session with Billie that it came out, all by accident.

“How does a man who can’t hear know how to sing?” He’d immediately covered up his mouth after he said it, but it was too late, Billie had seen the question. They had been communicating by writing and lip-reading, Tré trying to understand the drumbeat created for the new song, and in his amazement over Billie, the question had just come _out_. Tré was frozen as Billie seemed to think it over, and then he smiled. Tré wasn’t expecting that.

_‘He learns.’_ was Billie’s written response, as he felt better writing long responses than saying them (contradictory to his singing), _‘Just because you’re deaf doesn’t mean you can’t learn to speak. Same with singing. It’s vibration, and it’s all different. Once you know which vibration is what, it’s easy.’_

“Oh.” said Tré, then uncovered his mouth and repeated it after remembering Billie was deaf, “I didn’t mean to ask that.”

“It’s okay. It gets asked a lot.” And so, even though Tré felt that there was an awkward silence, he and Billie went back to working on the song.

* * *

**1991:**

Soon enough it was time for their first show together, and Tré was anxious. All of them were, but it was his first concert with the band, so he was all the more nervous. He hoped he wouldn’t bomb it, and to help keep his mind off of it, he tried to observe the other two. They were signing to each other at such a speed it seemed dizzying to Tré, who was getting better but wasn’t that fast in the slightest. Compared to them, his signing was snail-pace, and he wondered if it irritated Billie when trying to sign with him because he was so slow. But he didn’t have much more time to think about it, as it was suddenly their turn to play.

As they played, Tré was struck with how well Billie was able to sing, despite his disability. And the drummer could tell, just by how they moved at certain times, that Billie and Mike had their own special way of communicating onstage, and Tré wished he could be part of that. He was ashamed to say he was envious of the friendship those two had and knew that he couldn’t stay forever. He was just a sub for Kiffmeyer, he wasn’t really part of the band, so having to leave eventually shouldn’t have left such a bad taste in his mouth. But then, after their act was finished, Mike pulled him over to the side.

“Hey, so, we’ve got a surprise for you.” he said, and Tré felt like his stomach dropped out from under him. His shot at being in a great band, his lucky horseshoe, was just about to turn into a hand grenade and probably destroy everything.

“A-ah, I don’t like surprises.” Mike gave him a look, seeming to know that was a lie.

“You’re one of the craziest people I know. I don’t think that’s possible for you to _not_ like surprises.” Mike kept dragging him forward and Tré was forced to face his fate as they met up with Billie. The frontman was smiling widely and even grinned when he saw Tré approaching. Tré wondered if he got off on someone else’s pain, like a sadist.

“Let’s see if you can understand what Billie’s saying.” Mike gave a nod and then Billie began to sign, and Tré tried to figure it out. ‘You’...‘In’...‘Band.’

What.

He really needed to stop saying that.

“Dude, you okay?” asked Mike after Tré didn’t respond for a moment, “You know what he’s saying?”

“Yeah, just, _man_.” Tré spoke, “I thought John was gonna come back to the band.”

“He’s trying to get his degree and when we asked him if he wanted to come back, he didn’t know. So, when we suggested you, he thought it was fine.”

“I’m in the band for real.” Tré shook his head, “Give me a few weeks to get used to this.” Mike chuckled.

“Be happy, dude. You’re an awesome drummer.” He gave a thumbs up and Billie gave it back. Tré felt great about it, even if he didn’t show it, and hoped he’d be in the band for a long while to come. Maybe he had a lucky horseshoe after all.

* * *

_Kerplunk_ was the new album and Tré didn’t really know what to make of it at first but, like anything Billie made, knew it was special. Records were coming to them, trying to get deals, and it felt amazing, but also made the band realize that they were growing and couldn’t stay with Lookout! much longer. And when they did, Gilman Street wasn’t gonna like it. Signing with a major label would get them everything, but it would cut them off from their starting ground, and no one knew if it was worth it. But Billie was already writing stuff for a new album, and if it was gonna be as good as _Kerplunk_ or better, they had to change labels.

And this was also not the first time Tré witnessed a silent argument, but it was still weird. He could tell his two bandmates were arguing by their expressions, since they were still signing too fast for him to interpret accurately, but he was getting better, at least. He could pick out a few things, such as ‘no,’ ‘already,’ ‘alternative,’ and ‘fuck you’ (courtesy of the finger). ‘No’ came up a lot, as did the cursing, and it was hard to tell who was winning. Eventually Mike threw up his hands, shouted, “FINE!” and left. Unsure of who to talk to about the argument, Tré knew he couldn’t talk to Billie about it without getting his attention somehow (and he wasn’t going anywhere near the other man while he was mad and had a guitar in his hands), so he went after Mike.

“What was that about?” Tré asked quietly, trying to test the waters with Mike. They were outside, the bassist having a smoke and trying to calm down, and Mike didn’t answer for a minute.

“We were arguing about moving labels.” he sighed, “Both of us don’t wanna leave because of the Gilman, but if we don’t, we might not break out as a band. We were talking about it and it broke into an argument.”

“It looked bad.”

“Wasn’t as bad as it seemed.” Tré moved to stand beside Mike as the taller man went on, “Unless you know him as well as I do, it’s kinda hard to get along with Bill, and even then he’s a bit trying, but he’s my best friend. I wouldn’t trade him for the world.”

“Did you help him learn to talk?” Mike shrugged.

“A bit. I also helped him learn to sing and I’m kinda like his backboard? Like, he bounces things off me, since I can hear, and I give him my response. And things have just gotten better from there, _bigger_.”

“They kinda have, haven’t they? I still find it a bit hard to believe I’m in this with you guys. It’s like, every day, I wake up to a dream and I always hope it never turns into anything else.” Mike nodded.

“Yeah, I get that.” It was quiet for a minute, “...We should probably go back in and make sure Billie hasn’t done something.”

“Right.” And so they did.

* * *

**1992:**

Tré knew that a person who’s trying to do everything they can to understand another person is someone special. Erica was one of those people, and he just wished that she and Billie hadn’t split. She was a good person, the split hadn’t been messy at all, but it was the new girl Billie was seeing that didn’t rub him and Mike and right way.

“She’s gonna hurt him, I know it.” said Tré one day while in the tour van. He and the bassist were left inside while they watched Billie try to impress ‘Amanda,’ whom the other two had only met a handful of times.

“Mmm.” Mike hummed, not agreeing but not arguing, either.

“You’re his best friend, aren’t you? Can’t you do something about it?”

“It’s his choice, even if I don’t agree with it.” spoke Mike, “Besides, you’re a good friend to him, too.” Tré’s eyebrows shot up.

“What are you talking about? Compared to you, I’m pretty much nothing.”

“Don’t say that.” Mike frowned, “You’re a really good guy and the way you just fit in with Bill and me is amazing. You also cared enough that you learned ASL to talk with Billie, and not everyone’s willing to do that. You did that on the _first day_ , even.” Mike gave him a look, “You keep telling yourself that you’re not good friends with Billie and me, and we’ll show you how wrong you are.”

“I’m not saying _that_ , it’s just that you two have known each other for so long, get along so well, anyone that tries to join doesn’t really fit in. And it’s not your fault, it’s just the way things are.”

“I’m sorry for making you feel that way. I mean, Bill and I know we’re close, but I didn’t realize-” Tré just shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it. Maybe later it won’t be this bad, if I spend a bit more time around you guys.”

“Maybe.” An awkward silence settled over them for a while.

“...I bet you 20 bucks she’s gonna break up with him in a few months.”

“I’ll take that bet and raise it to a year or more.”

“2 years at the longest.”

“And let’s change the bet to 30, if you think you can handle losing that much money.”

“You’re on.”

* * *

**1994:**

It was times like this when Tré hated being right. He also hated losing bets, but that really didn’t matter right now. He and Mike were trying to comfort Billie at the moment, seeing as it was just a day or two after Amanda dumped him, and it was hitting the singer _hard_. Billie’s deep distress was so bad it made the two feel like they couldn’t afford to leave their friend alone for a minute, lest something terrible happen to him. They couldn’t allow it, they _wouldn’t_ , because Billie was their friend and he didn’t need to lose everything over a stupid girl who barely even seemed to care about him. And once he calmed down enough to be able to see, they had a few ideas to pitch to him to hopefully help him get over all this. Finally, it had come to a point where Mike had had enough of Billie’s moping and was gonna do something about it.

“Billie.” Mike said strongly, gripping the smaller man’s shoulder tightly, but not enough to hurt. He didn’t even need to say his friend’s name, but he did it anyway for a reason unknown to Tré. As it was, Billie glanced up at Mike, looking distraught, and when his best friend began to sign, Billie furiously tried to clear his eyes to understand what Mike was saying. Tré was now much better at sign language and, if he had to translate, he know Mike would be saying something like, “I know you were in love with her, but she dumped you, and I understand how that hurts. But now you need to keep going and pushing, because she wasn’t everything you had. We’re here too, and if no one else ever cares about you, we always will. We’re your best friends, we’ve stuck by you for years, and we’re not gonna leave you, even if you try to make us.” Tré was pretty certain Mike put a few other things in there as well, but he wasn’t quite sure. But when Mike finished, it seemed to leave Billie in tears again, and the two bandmates were afraid Billie hadn’t really understood Mike or just not taken it to heart. That all changed when they were suddenly given hugs by Billie and they knew that they’d reached him after all. And when the hugs were done, Billie quickly started to sign something over and over, which they were able to interpret as ‘thank you’ and ‘I love you,’ and they were sure he meant it. It was only later that something occurred to Tré, and so he asked Mike about it.

“Why did he drag out ‘I love you’ instead of just using the one sign?” Tré asked as Billie laid across their laps, relaxing after what had happened. They were pretty sure he was falling asleep. Mike shrugged as Tré showed him the small hand sign, which combined the three letters ‘I-L-Y’ to express ‘I love you’ in a simpler form.

“Could be that, to him, it might not mean as much as just dragging it out. Maybe just putting more effort into it meant it was worth more than just doing it in a simple way.”

“Makes sense.” Tré rested a hand on Billie’s head, as the singer’s upper body was laying on Tré and his lower body was laying on Mike, “...He might not ever get over her.”

“I know. But he’s still got us.”

“Always will.”

“And you still owe me 30 bucks.”

“Damn, I hoped you forgot about that.” Tré sighed, “I’ll give it to you later, okay?”

“Sure.”

* * *

1994 was turning out to be one of the best years ever to Tré, even with all the insanity that happened. _Dookie_ skyrocketed, Billie got married and was going to be a father, Woodstock ‘94 was now Mudstock and Mike had lost teeth, and it was just all great. Maybe not all of Woodstock, but still, the whole year had been pretty amazing. But, if you had to ask any of the band on what was the greatest thing about that year, Tré though it safe to say it might have been Billie and Adrienne’s wedding.

Mike and Billie had first met her back in 1990, and they’d been friends ever since, but after the break with Amanda, it seemed Billie had quickly fallen for her. Tré and Mike weren’t sure about it, Billie was going about this too soon, but soon they realized it might have been the best choice Billie ever made. Sure, he was pretty impulsive, but Adrienne was something else. She was a good person, like Erica, and definitely tough, but she really made Billie happy and loved him right back. And it had only been a few months later that they got married in July, and that was when she did something that made Mike and Tré realized that she was _definitely_ the person for Billie.

She had started to learn to sign shortly after first meeting Billie and now she was an expert at it, and that had become a big part of what she had planned for the wedding to surprise Billie. The frontman had thought that he was just going to lip-read to understand the vows, he didn’t expect for Adrienne to find someone to marriage them in ASL and when he realized that, when Adrienne started it all off in sign language, Billie couldn’t hold back the tears. She hadn’t needed to be extra, but she did, and it was more than amazing to him. To Billie, he’d just become the luckiest man in the world, all because his soon-to-be-wife was willing to go the extra mile to get past his deafness and make him happy.

Yeah, Green Day were certain Billie had found a catch in Adrienne, and all three hoped the couple would have a good life together.

* * *

**2004:**

Things weren’t going so well for the band at the moment. After _Dookie_ , things went into decline for them, with one of the worst sellers being _Warning_. There were also _Insomniac_ , _Nimrod_ , 2 compilation album releases, some work with other bands, and the unfortunate loss of the master tapes for _Cigarettes and Valentines_ , but Green Day weren’t giving up. Tré was pretty sure they had something great on their hands with the new material, and they were being extra careful not to lose it. _Cigarettes_ didn’t really sound like what they wanted, but this new thing did, and it sounded _big_. If they fucked this up, Tré wasn’t sure if Green Day would recover.

He honestly didn’t mind, they’d had a good run. And he was pretty sure few people outside themselves knew about Billie’s disability despite all the interviews and such. That was because Billie could lip-read, that was his big weapon, and Tré wondered when Billie would feel comfortable enough to tell more people about his deafness. He also wondered when and if they would ever talk about ‘The Network.’ Even though he was pretty sure people thought they were still Green Day, Tré thought it felt nice to masquerade as a new band. It was like they were just starting out again, and it was great. And Billie’s record label, Adeline, was great too, especially when they basically signed themselves to it while as The Network. So maybe they weren’t in as such of a slump as they once thought. Then again, thinking about personal lives, Tré winced. Billie was the only one with kids in his custody and a steady wife, and Tré and Mike… they’d rather not talk about it.

“Guys!” Billie came running in while the two were working on a practice session, “Guys guys guys!” They couldn’t shout for him to stop, since he couldn’t hear, but they could definitely mouth it or just give him the finger. The two opted to do that when mouthing ‘stop’ didn’t make Billie stop shouting. And when he got the message, Billie blushed in embarrassment.

“Right.” he sighed, “Well, I’ve got news!”

“What news?” asked Mike.

“I think the album’s almost ready to be released!” Billie was just so giddy that Tré thought it would be hard to get a word in edgewise.

“When’s the date?” Tré asked once Billie was calm enough.

“Sometime in September!”

“You wanna try running the set?” Mike asked. Billie nodded and grabbed his guitar, dragging Mike and Tré into playing anyway, but they didn’t care. It was fun and they were glad to see Billie so happy. If this became a big success like _Dookie_ , then they’d probably be going for years to come, and Tré was hit with the realization that, if this ever ended, he only wanted it to end beside his best friends. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to play in Green Day without Mike and Billie. In fact, it probably wouldn’t _be_ Green Day without them. Tré was just a drummer, he could be replaced, but they couldn’t. _They_ were Green Day, and maybe he was becoming part of that for good now.

* * *

**2005:**

_American Idiot_. It hit better than any of Green Day ever thought it would. It went past _Dookie_ and into the stars. There was just no way to accurately estimate how well _American Idiot_ was received, and Tré thought that was awesome. They’d made something huge, that would be _remembered_ , and so many people could relate to it with the times they now lived in. And now Green Day were on a huge tour, their biggest ever, and it was crazy. But it was during that tour that Tré found out just how much he was now part of the band.

It was during one of their days on the bus, while they were traveling through the UK, when Tré happened upon Billie talking with Adrienne using a laptop computer. It was a new technology, being able to talk with someone else on a laptop, and it was pretty amazing. It was especially helpful to Billie, seeing as he was deaf, and as he signed to Adrienne, Tré caught a new gesture he hadn’t seen before, and he thought he had finally learned everything about sign language. Billie made a T and then ‘close friend,’ indicating a name, but Tré wondered who Billie could be referring to. None of the people he knew of started with a T and not a lot of people were close friends with Billie, so who could it be? Tré wanted to know, but he wasn’t going to interrupt the call. The singer needed his time alone with his wife.

Later, Tré found Billie and Mike signing again while they were waiting for the show to begin and Mike made another name sign that Tré wasn’t familiar with: Again there was T and then ‘crazy,’ which was a motion where you held your hand beside your head and waved it as if you were holding a big bowl in it, sort of like grinding the bowl into the side of your head. Tré wondered who they could be talking about this time, as there was no other T name that he knew of. He wondered if that was actually him, since he could be pretty silly/crazy at times, but then why hadn’t they told him about the change to his name? Was it supposed to be a surprise? So many questions and not enough answers, and he supposed he could just ask them, but he didn’t know. And when had they changed it? Mike had mentioned, way back when he first joined the band, that if he became close to them, it could change. If he was right, then maybe he really was a part of the band now. It took a while, but eventually Tré worked up the courage to ask them about it. Right after the end of the show, no less.

“So, uh,” Tré rubbed his hands together nervously after managing to pull Mike and Billie to the side, “there’s been something on my mind for a while that I wanted to talk about.”

“...Don’t tell us you’re leaving the band.” said Mike.

“No! I’d never-!” Tré shook his head, putting a hand on his face, “You know I’d never do that to you guys. I just wanted to ask about some of the names you’ve been signing.” Since he had accidentally covered his lips when he did that, Billie didn’t know what Tré was saying and was really confused when the drummer signed T and ‘crazy.’

“Why are you signing your name?” asked the singer. Tré was glad that was confirmed, at least.

“Then what about this one?” Tré signed T and ‘close friend.’

“You’re doing it again.”

So they considered him a close friend now?

What.

Tré didn’t know what to make of it.

“So, you guys have a new name for me now?” Tré asked. Both men frowned.

“I thought we’d told you.” Mike said.

“No, no you did not. How long have you had this new name?”

“Since 1999? 2000?” Billie estimated.

“Five years?!”

“We seriously thought we’d told you!” Mike tried to keep Tré from getting too mad, “We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to keep it from you. But do you like the new name?”

“There are two!”

“But they’re both _you_. You’re our crazy close friend who we wouldn’t trade the world for.” Tré blinked. They really thought that much of him?

“It’s been 15 years. Of course you’re our best friend.” Even though Billie didn’t hear what Mike said, he had a good idea of it based on Tré’s expressions and so added his own input.

“Guys...” Tré blinked more, feeling overwhelmed that they liked him so much. He’d always felt like an outsider, despite how much Mike and Billie affirmed that he was their friend, but now that they were saying it and even had a new, more personal name for him, he was on the verge of crying. He couldn’t help but wrap them in hugs and let the tears flow, feeling so glad that he had made that decision so long ago and that they included him in the band.

* * *

**2010:**

Despite the gap between albums, they just seemed to keep going and going and going. _Bullet in a Bible_ , the Foxboro Hot Tubs, _21st Century Breakdown_ , the Broadway version of _American Idiot_ , their own _Rock Band_ video game, and another live album in the works. It was dizzying to think about, how far they had come. Almost 20 years since _Kerplunk_ , over 20 since Billie and Mike had started the band, and look at where they were now.

Only… a problem had come up. Somehow, it had been leaked to the press that Billie was deaf, and Billie certainly wasn’t ready to tell anyone about it yet. And the _media_ … Tré shivered as he remembered how quickly they had pounced on the leak, verified it, and were now trying to get interviews and such about it. It probably wouldn’t have been such a big deal with Billie if he was anything but a musician, but now they were calling him the ‘modern Beethoven’ and searching every place they could to talk to him. The poor guy had basically disappeared off the radar like he had in 2003, just hiding until it all died down, but Tré and Mike weren’t being left alone, either. Being Billie’s bandmates, the media was trying to ask them about the singer’s deafness and they were trying to avoid the media like the plague. So far it was working, even if they did get hounded sometimes.

And that wasn’t even mentioning what the fans were saying, but not all of it was bad. Fans always split over something, usually an album, but on the case of Billie’s deafness, Tré had seen something like a war going on online. There were those who said that he was amazing, being able to create so many songs and just being able to sing as well as he did, and then were those who seriously doubted that Billie was actually the one singing in any instance where he had ever sung, even live. It was _bad_ , and that wasn’t counting all the other arguments going on. Tré hoped some people were staying out of it, if only not to get harrassed and dragged into an argument. What did it matter if people doubted that Billie could sing? The singer himself probably would’ve said otherwise, but the point was that he had created masterpieces, despite being deaf. And even if he hadn’t sung them, they would’ve been good regardless. Besides, unlike Beethoven, Billie had learned to talk, sing, and write songs without ever hearing anything. Beethoven had hearing loss, Billie was born that way, and in a way, that made Billie _better_ than the composer.

Tré was taken out of his thoughts when he heard the front door open and slam shut, causing him to frown. Either the reporters somehow managed to break down the door or it was someone with a key to the house, and the only ones he could think of that would have a key would be his bandmates. Shutting his book, he went to the foyer to find Jason White leaning against the door. He looked like he’d ran a marathon and was panting the same way.

“Dude, you okay?” Tré went to his side. Jason nodded.

“Fucking reporters.” he panted, “How do you stand this?!” Tré looked out one of the front windows and almost gave a snarl at the sight of so many reporters outside.

“I don’t, but it’s not like I can make ‘em leave easily.” He closed the curtains, “Why come here, anyway?”

“It’s about Billie.” Tré’s eyebrows shot up. He hadn’t talked to Billie in weeks and Mike and Adrienne hadn’t even heard from him, so why Jason? Maybe it was because, even though he was a longtime member, he wasn’t mainly there and so the media didn’t consider him important enough to interview.

_Good idea, Bill._ Tré thought, then said, “What is it?”

“He wants to do an interview. Doesn’t have a phone right now, which is why he asked me to tell you guys.”

“Where is he?” Jason shook his head.

“Not at my house. Just stopped by and left. He’s really taking this hiding thing seriously.”

“I would too if I was him.” Tré admitted, “I’ll call Mike and tell him about it. Did Billie give a date?”

“He said he’d see you guys about it in a few days. And can I please have a chair?”

“Oh, right.” Tré helped Jason to his feet and guided the touring member into the living room so he could rest. Tré wondered if Billie was making the right decision to go public and talk about his deafness, but if he was willing to talk about it, Tré would support him. After all, it was his disability, so it should be his right to decide when he would talk, and the media wasn’t going to take that from him. They just sped it up a little bit, which Tré hated, but knew he had no control over. He just hoped the interview would go as well as it could.

* * *

“So Green Day,” began the interviewer, tucking some hair behind an ear, “it was leaked to our own MTV about all this, and I wonder, just how do you feel about all this?”

“Not good at all.” Billie tried not to growl the response, and he was still a bit angry about the whole thing, and Tré was willing to bet that a lot of people watching were wondering why Billie didn’t have an interpreter, and the news station had been willing to give him one, but Billie turned them down. He may not have been able to hear, but he could still answer questions. Had they forgotten how he managed to do it before for so long?

“We’re still trying to look into who leaked it, as very few people knew about my hearing before this.” Billie continued.

“Interesting. And, being deaf, how are you able to know what I’m saying without an interpreter, Mr. Armstrong?”

“I can read lips.”

“But isn’t that a very hard skill to learn?”

“Yeah, but I had to grow up doing it a lot.” Billie sat back a little bit and Tré knew that was a sign where he was starting to get uncomfortable. Reading lips was his least favorite way of communicating.

“I see. So, how long has this affected you, sir?”

“It’s been with Billie ever since he was born.” said Mike, who had pat Billie’s knee to let the singer know he was going to be doing some talking. There were small little things they each did during interviews and shows and such to tell Billie if they were talking or not, and nobody had known them until now, as they were probably analyzing every single little thing about the video in new detail.

“That must have been a hard life, especially surrounded by so many siblings.” Billie could only nod as the interviewer continued, “Now I have to ask, how were you able to teach yourself to speak, let alone sing, Mr. Armstrong?”

“He taught himself, for the most part.” Mike responded, “Some deaf people can speak really well, even if they can’t hear themselves, like Billie. I helped him a little, especially with singing.”

“How so?” Mike glanced to Billie, who nodded, and so he spoke.

“He’d try singing and when he would, I’d help him adjust his voice to match. He’d bounce all of it off me and I’d just help him. Sound isn’t just _sound_ , it’s vibration, and if you can tell vibrations apart and understand them, you can sing and play. It’s really simple.” The interviewer nodded, as if she was really into this.

“Interesting. But why create so much music if you can’t hear it?”

“Because it’s good music and it should be shared with people.” Tré spoke up, “ _American Idiot_ and _21st Century Breakdown_ , for example. Billie didn’t just write so much of that for fun, he also made it as a statement of the times. So a lot of what he makes is both for fun and because he wants to share music with people. Not being able to hear it isn’t something that bothers him.”

“I see. Is keeping the beat easy at all, since you don’t have any auditory distractions?” Billie held up a hand, indicating he was going to speak.

“It’s basically all I do besides playing and singing during shows.” Billie responded, “But yeah, I think it’s a little easier. Maybe. I can’t really tell.”

“Okay. Mr. Dirnt, Mr. Cool, this is a question for both of you: How hard is it to work with Mr. Armstrong? Both offstage and on?”

“It’s not hard at all.” said Mike, “We have all these little signs we share during performances to talk with Billie, and offstage there’s no difference. We just treat him like a normal person and that’s it.”

“Yeah, we do that because he’s not any different from a person that can hear, so what’s the reason to treat him any differently?” Tré hoped his words would be getting out and making people question themselves and their opinions on Billie’s deafness.

“I see. And after this interview, are there any plans to change anything? Before this, you mentioned that you had a lot of song material you were going to release. Is that still planned, or are you going to do something else because of this event?”

“Nothing’s gonna change.” Billie answered, “I’ve always been deaf and we’ve come this far despite that. The leak about my hearing isn’t going to change anything about the band, just how people see us, but I hope that they ignore all this.”

“Why?”

“Because the fact that I can’t hear a thing hasn’t done anything to destroy my musical ability. If people judge us because I can’t hear, then fine. But, like I said before, my hearing hasn’t stopped us yet, so what’s the point of harping about it?”

“Interesting. Well, thank you for your time, gentlemen.” They exchanged goodbyes and soon the band was out of the studio and hopefully away from reporters. Now, they just wanted to relax and hoped it would all die down eventually.

* * *

**2019:**

_¡Uno!_ , _¡Dos!_ , _¡Tré!_ , _¡_ _Cuatro_ _!_ , _Broadway Idiot_ , _Demolicious_ , getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, _Revolution Radio_ , _God’s Favorite Band_. A lot can happen in 9 years. And even at that, Billie was already writing new material for another album. But now Billie had asked Mike and Tré to come to the studio, but he didn’t elaborate why. Was he going to show the two the new material? Did he have something big planned? Tré didn’t know and was very curious when he arrived.

_“What’s up?”_ he signed as soon as Billie saw him. The singer smiled as he worked with an acoustic guitar, then gestured for him to come over. It seemed they were the only two there at the moment. Once Tré was close enough, Billie pointed to a piece of paper, where he had some lyrics. It wasn’t new material, but there were notes on it that made Tré look surprised.

_“You sure about this?”_ Billie nodded. It was high time he did something for his own community, and he was hoping the guys would help him with it.

“Wanna do it?” the singer asked aloud.

_“Sure I do.”_ As Tré gazed over the paper again, he just wondered how they could do it. Billie wanted to create a music video using one of their older songs and was going to do it in a way that really spoke out about the challenges deaf people faced, including ones like himself. Tré thought it was cool, and was pretty sure Mike would be on board.

Billie may have been deaf, but he was a great man, and Tré knew that, no matter what happened, it just wouldn’t be the same without Billie, deaf or not. Maybe that was why he was so awesome, and Tré wondered if Billie knew how awesome he was.

But, overall, Tré was glad he had decided to pick this band to help out, and was glad to still be in it. Green Day was not Green Day without Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt _or_ Tré Cool. And that was that.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, this is something I wrote in two days to help get out of my Writer's block, so I hope you guys like it. There are several references in here to various things and quite a few I got from Wikipedia, as I'm still kinda new to Green Day, so if I got something wrong, tell me and I'll try to fix it. And for several of the signs, I had to look it up on an online ASL dictionary, so if I got something wrong, tell me and I'll fix it.
> 
> Of course, things are bound to be wrong, OOC and such, but I hoped this turned out well regardless.


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